Last night The Hope played host to a blistering show featuring emergent grunge-girl gang Skinny Girl Diet and Los Angeles duo Girlpool, supported by fellow Americans Eureka California and London pop/post-punks Witching Waves. Whilst all of the bands played impressive sets, the headliners undoubtedly stole the night.
As the days get shorter and shorter and DW tries to adapt to life post-uni (stuck in fluorescent offices and endless commutes), it has been easy to forget that there is more to life than métro boulot dodo. The bands featured on last night’s line-up provided a much-needed shot in the arm by way of very loud music. Skinny Girl Diet in particular felt like the musical equivalent of a defibrillator, in turns melodic, thrashy and anthemic, with a hypnotizing stony-faced stage presence. Their ferocious 21st century take on riot-grrrl and grunge was without pause as they unleased their unique and raw-sounding punk on the crowd.
SGD’s mix of sleek personal aesthetic and fuzzy, visceral punk is a refreshing addition to the UK music and fashion scene: girls who care about looking cool but aren’t afraid to sound angry. Hailed by The Slit’s Viv Albertine as “timeless” in Dazed and Confused earlier this year, the London-based teens are the kind of girl band we need more of.
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